Dr. Lopez is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Santa Cruz. As a first-generation college student, she graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz ('18) and was awarded a Ford Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan ('24). She returned to UC Santa Cruz as a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology ('24).
Dr. Lopez's research centers Indigenous equity, justice and self-determination. Her research examines how biased cultural representations of Indigeneity perpetuate anti-Indigenous bias among non-Natives, the consequences of biased representations on Indigenous People's well-being, and the psychological factors undergirding Indigenous resistance and collective action. She also investigates the role of ancestral homelands for Indigenous People's identity construction, well-being, and cultural continuity. She takes an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach to investigate these topics, and draws from Indigenous, Environmental, and Settler Colonial Studies in addition to psychological theories regarding social identity, intergroup relations and identity threat and mitigation.
As a scholar committed to ensuring her research is accessible and actionable, she has collaborated with Native organizations to translate empirical findings into public-facing research reports that have informed legislation and were included in presentations for White House briefings and the Congressional Native Caucus. She is also a Climate Justice Fellow with the UCSC Center for Reimagining Leadership and a member of the UCSC Chancellor's Advisory Board of Native Engagement.
Dr. Lopez's research centers Indigenous equity, justice and self-determination. Her research examines how biased cultural representations of Indigeneity perpetuate anti-Indigenous bias among non-Natives, the consequences of biased representations on Indigenous People's well-being, and the psychological factors undergirding Indigenous resistance and collective action. She also investigates the role of ancestral homelands for Indigenous People's identity construction, well-being, and cultural continuity. She takes an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach to investigate these topics, and draws from Indigenous, Environmental, and Settler Colonial Studies in addition to psychological theories regarding social identity, intergroup relations and identity threat and mitigation.
As a scholar committed to ensuring her research is accessible and actionable, she has collaborated with Native organizations to translate empirical findings into public-facing research reports that have informed legislation and were included in presentations for White House briefings and the Congressional Native Caucus. She is also a Climate Justice Fellow with the UCSC Center for Reimagining Leadership and a member of the UCSC Chancellor's Advisory Board of Native Engagement.